Warp tension device for looms.



H. LINDSAY. WARP TENSION DEVICE FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 28, 1911 Patented Nov. 12, 1912.

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Mzzzessay H. LINDSAY. WARP TENSION DEVICE FOR LOOMS. APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 22,: 1911.

1,044,205, 1 Patented Nov. 12, 1912.

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COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH ISO-,WASHINGTON. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

HAMILTON LINDSAY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE LINDSAY WIRE WEAVING COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

WAR]? TENSION DEVICE FOR LOOIVIS.

Patented Nov. 12, 1912.

Serial No. 651,685.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, HAMILTON LINDSAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in arp Tension Devices for Looms, of which the followlng is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying draw- The object of this invention is to provide a simple and effective mechanism for keeping proper tension on the Warp threads of a loom. I accomplish this by feeding the cloth beam constantly by a Weight which maintains proper tension, the weight being periodically and automatically raised wlthout taking the tension off of the warp. When mechanism accomplishing this is com bined with mechanism for continuously unwinding the warp beam, a very simple and effective tension feed is produced.

The invention comprises the means by which I accomplish the automatic tension feed, as herein illustrated and hereinafter described.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a loom embodying my invention, various parts of the loom not contributing to the tension feed being omitted; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a portion of the loom showing the feeding mechanism for the cloth beam; Fig. 3 is a vertical section substantially on the line 33 of Fig. 1 looking toward the front; Fig. 4 is a horizontal section, as indicated by the line 44 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, 10 represents one of the end members of the frame of the loom, 11 the warp beam rotatably mounted at the rear of the frame, and 12 the cloth beam rotatably mounted at the front of the frame.

13 represents the warp threads passing from the warp beam over the lay 15 and the guiding roller 16 to the cloth beam. The lay is shown as mounted on rock arms 17 pivoted at 18 and is operated by a pitman 19 running to a gear 20. This gear is shown as meshing with a gear 21, driven by means not shown.

25 indicates a rock shaft for operating the heddles, not shown. This rock shaft is connected by a rock arm and a link 24 to a lever 26 carrying a roller operated by a cam 27 on a shaft 28. 29 indicates another cam. on this shaft, which, through suitable mechanism (not shown) may operate the shut tle. The parts so far described may be of any approved construction, and they are shown herein simply as illustrative.

On the shaft of the warp beam 11 is a worm wheel 30, meshing with a worm 31 on a vertical shaft 32 suitably journaled in the frame. On the lower end of this shaft is a bevel gear 33 meshing with a pinion on the inner face of a gear 84. This gear is shown as meshing with an idler 35, which is in mesh with a pinion on a shaft 36. This shaft has a sprocket wheel 37 coupled by a chain 38 with a sprocketwheel 39 on the driving shaft 28. The rotation of the shaft 28 is in the right hand direction (Fig. 1), which results in the warp beam being continuously rotated in the left hand direction to feed the warp threads.

The cloth beam 12 is provided on one end with a worm wheel 40 which meshes with a worm 41 on a vertical shaft 42 rotatably and slidably mounted in cars 43 on the frame. The lower end of this shaft is rounded and rests on the forward arm 46,

of a lever 48. This lever preferably extends transversely and is pivoted at 47 and carries on its opposite arm an adjustably posltioned weight 49. This weight, tending to raise the shaft 42, tends to rotate the cl'oth beam forwardly and thus supplies tension to the warp threads, according to the position of the weight on the lever. The location of the weight between the side frames on a transverse lever is preferably for compactness, ease of. adjustment, and the keeping of the weight out of the way, but other arrangements may be employed, if desired.

Rigidly secured to the shaft 42 is 'a gear 50 which meshes with a long gear 51 mounted on a vertical stud rising from a bracket 53- secured to the frame. On the upper end of the long gear 51 is a bevel gear 54 meshing with a bevel pinion 55 on a transverse shaft 56. This shaft is journaled in a bearing secured to the frame standard and another bearing 58 carried by the bracket 53. Loose on'the shaft 56 is a sprocket wheel 60 connected by a sprocket chain 61, with a sprocket wheel behind the wheel 39 on the shaft 28. Accordingly, the sprocket wheel 60 is given a continuous rotation in a right handdirection. On the outer side ofthe sprocket wheel 60 is a clutch face, which may cooperate with a clutch face on a collar 64: slidably mounted on the shaft 56, but held to it by a spline. The engagement of these faces may be frictional or dental.

66 indicates a shipper-lever pivoted on a bracket 67 and having a yoked end 68 eX- tending into the collar 64. The other end of this shipper-lever is pivoted to a link 70, which is connected at its other end with a rock arm 71 on the rock shaft 72. On this rock shaft is an arm 7 3 extending between a pair of pins 74 and 75 on an upward arm 76 of the lever 48 which carries the counterweight 49. Now, it will be seen that the weight 49, tending to raise the shaft 42, tends to rotate the cloth beam in the direction to keep tension on the warp strands. Accordingly, as these strands are released from the warp beam, the weight descends, raising the shaft and turning the cloth beam. When such descent reaches a certain predetermined point, the pin 74 on the weighted lever comes against the rock arm 78 and thereby rocks the shaft 72, forcing outwardly the link 70 and rocking the shipperlever 66 in the direction to clutch the collar 64 to the wheel 60. This action causes the shaft 56 to rotate in the right hand direc tion, and this rotation rotates the gear 51 in the direction to rotate the worm 41, so that it travels downwardly while tending to shove upwardly on the adjacent portion of the worm wheel. This downward movement continues with the consequent elevation of the weight 49 and the maintenance of the tension on the warp until the pin 7 5 engages the rock arm 73. This operates the shipper mechanism to uncouple the clutch, leaving the weight in its highest point. A hand wheel 78 on the outer end of the shaft 56 furnishes means for raising or lowering the weight in starting a new roll of cloth.

From the description given it will be seen that the tension on the warp threads is maintained and is due to the mass of the weight 49 and its position on the lever arm 48. This tension is constant, notwithstanding the continuous turning of the cloth beam to take up the warp continuously released by the warp beam. The turning of the cloth beam is effected by the weight which moves through such a small are that its leverageis practically constant, while the periodic rotation of the worm to restore the weight does not interfere with the weight maintaining the proper tension. I have found the tension mechanism described to be well adapted for looms for weaving wire cloth, but Ido not intend to limit it to such use.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a loom, the combination, with the warp beam and cloth beam, of means for supplying proper tension to the warp fed between them, said means comprising a weight, mechanism for causing it to rotate the cloth beam constantly forward, and means for periodically and automatically restoring the weight without relieving the tension.

2. In a loom, the combination of the warp beam, means for continuously and positively turning it in a direction to feed off the strands thereon, a cloth beam, means for constantly rotating it forward, said means including a weight giving tension to the warp threads, and means for automatically raising the weight without releasing the tension.

3. In a loom, the combination, with the warp beam and cloth beam, of a worm wheel on the cloth beam, a worm meshing therewith, a weighted lever constantly tending to move said worm longitudinally in the direction to turn the cloth beam forwardly, and means for rotating said worm in the direction to cause it to travel in the opposite longitudinal direction.

4. In a loom, the con'ibination, with the warp beam and cloth beam, of a worm wheel on the cloth beam, a worm meshing therewith, a weighted lever tending to move said worm longitudinally in the direction to turn the cloth beam forwardly, means for rotating said worm to cause it to travel in the opposite direction, and means for constantly unwinding the warp beam.

5. In a loom, the combination, with the warp beam and the cloth beam, means for continuously unwinding the warp beam, means for continuously winding up the cloth beam, said last mentioned means including a worm under the influence of a weight which tends to cause the winding, and means for rotating said worm to raise the weight.

6. In a loom, the combination, with the warp beam and the cloth beam, means for continuously unwinding the warp beam, means for continuously winding up the cloth beam, said last-mentioned means including a worm wheel on the cloth beam, a cooperating worm under the influence of a weight which tends to bodily shift the worm to cause the winding, means for rotating said worm to raise the weight, and a clutch for controlling the rotation.

7. In a loom, the combination of a rotatable beam, a worm wheel thereon, a longitudinally shiftable worm, a counterweighted lever bearing on the shaft of the worm and tending to shift the worm, gearing connected with said shaft and adapted to rotate it in the direction to lift the weight, means for driving said gearing, a clutch between the driving means and the gearing, and a shipper connection between the clutch and a part moving with the counterweighted lever.

8. In a 100m, the combination of the clothbeam, a worm wheel thereon, a worm shaft mounted slidably and rotatably, a worm on the shaft meshing with the worm wheel, a counter-weighted lever on which the shaft is footed, a gear on said shaft, gearing meshing therewith, a driving wheel for said gearing, a clutch therefor adapted to clutch the driving wheel to the gearing, and shipper mechanism for the clutch connected with the counterweighted lever.

9. In a loom, the combination of the warp beam, means for continuously and positively rotating it in the unwinding direction, a cloth beam, a worm wheel thereon, a rotatably and longitudinally movable worm meshing therewith, a counterweight tending to shift the worm bodily in they direction to turn the cloth beam forwardly, mechanism for rotating the worm in the direction to cause it to travel oppositely and thus raise the counterweight, a clutch for controlling the rotating mechanism, and shipper mechanism for 'the clutch operated in accordance with the descent of the weight to connect the clutch and operate it by the raising of the weight to disconnect the clutch.

10. In a loom, the combination of the warp beam, means for rotating it in the unwinding direction, a cloth beam, a worm wheel thereon, a rotatably and longitudinally movable worm meshing therewith, a counterweighted lever tending to raise the worm bodily to turn the cloth beam forwardly, mechanism for rotating the worm in the direction to cause it to travel downwardly and thus raise the counterweight, a clutch for controlling the rotating mechanism, shipper mechanism for the clutch including a rock arm, and stops on the coun tel-weighted lever adapted to rock the arm as the lever reaches its lowermost and its uppermost positions.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HAMILTON LINDSAY.

Witnesses:

ALBERT H. BATEs, HAROLD E. SMITH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. 0. 

